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World Petroleum Congress President Jozsef Toth, right, poses for photographs as he hands the Dewhurst Award to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, at the World Petroleum Congress, hosted by Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, July 9, 2017. Toth, described Tillerson, who is from Texas, as “a man born with oil in his veins”. The former ExxonMobile chief expressed his gratitude and said he misses “colleagues, partners and competitors” in the oil industry. (AP Photo)
The 22nd World Petroleum Congress is underway in Istanbul, Turkey, with a theme of “Bridges to Our Energy Future.”
Dozens of government ministers from around the world and thousands of participants will be on hand during the five-day program that will discuss numerous energy-related issues.
CGTN’s Michal Bardavid reports.
Follow Michal Bardavid on Twitter @michal_bardavid
One of the most vital issues for every nation – energy – has gathered leaders from around the world in Istanbul. Fifty ministers, 500 top executives and 20,000 people are expected to attend this year’s Congress, going from July 9 to 13.
The Congress aims to provide a platform for open dialogue to build bridges between consumers and producers, governments and industry, academia and financiers, leaders and society while searching for solutions for sustainable production and use of the world’s energy resources.
On the opening night U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson received the highest honor, a lifetime achievement award from the World Petroleum Council. During his speech Tillerson emphasized the U.S. was eager to cooperate with Turkey on energy projects.
“Turkey is also an important partner in our efforts to promote greater energy security because it sits at the crossroads. It’s just a fact of geography. Turkey sits at the crossroads of the vital energy resources, along supply routes and routes to consumers. The United States looks forward in engaging with Turkey on projects that will increase global energy security such as the southern gas corridor and the eastern Mediterranean gas,” Tillerson said.
Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak also delivered a speech on the opening night of the Congress. Albayrak stressed that Turkey’s energy policies were NOT driven by pure commercial interests.
“We will continue to support regional infrastructure projects as long as they contribute to regional peace and stability, multilateral welfare and security of supply,” he said.
Monday’s sessions kick-off with keynote speeches of leaders from Qatar, Azerbaijan and China.
Carl Larry discusses global oil markets
For more on global oil markets and all things energy, CGTN’s Rachelle Akuffo spoke to markets specialist with Thompson Reuters, Carl Larry.
